North Carolina Cherokee Indians: The Trail of Tears

In this two week unit, students will study the Cherokee by participating in literature circles, learning about Native American story telling, writing a letter to Andrew Jackson to protest against the Creek War, and more.

A lesson plan for grades 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Gina Golden

Literature Circles

See our entry on literature circles.

Finding a guest speaker

Finding a guest speaker for your classroom can take a bit of legwork but the drama added to your lesson will make it all worth the effort. Try contacting the following for leads:

1. Museums and historical sites that specialize in American Indian history.
2. American Indian Studies programs at nearby universities.
3. Tribal leadership. The State Council on Indian affairs maintains contact information for every recognized tribe in the state.
4. Local historical societies and public libraries.

Learn more

• Cherokee Museum Has a map of the Trail of Tears, archeological information, and Cherokee artwork

Related pages

• Native American music: Two North Carolina tribes: In this lesson plan, students will listen to songs from two North Carolina tribes. Students will learn about the music through listening, analyzing, singing, moving, and playing instruments.
• Along the Trail of Tears: A part of history is often forgotten when teaching younger students. This is the relocation of the Cherokee Indians when the white settlers wanted their property. The US Government moved whole groups of Indians under harsh conditions. This trip became known as the Trail of Tears. Using this as a background students will explore and experiment with persuasive writing as they try to express the position of Cherokee leaders.
• A walk of betrayal: The Trail of Tears: In this lesson plan for fourth and fifth grade students will read various resources and watch videos about the Cherokee. They will trace the history of the Cherokee, discuss the outcomes of the impact of the white man, and determine how that intrusion led the Cherokee to the Trail of Tears. The students will examine the survival of the Cherokee and explore their accomplishments into the 21st century.

Related topics

• Learn more about American Indian history, American Indians, American history, Cherokee Indians, North Carolina, Trail of Tears, United States, culture, history, language arts, literature circles, poetry, social studies, and stories.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• complete their reading assignments and participate in Literature Circles.
• write and share a pourquoi tale.
• write a free form poem.
• read The Fox and the Fry Bread and have a Grande conversation about the connections students have to text, self, and world.
• write a persuasive letter to Andrew Jackson.
• complete and present literature circle projects.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 weeks

Materials/resources

• Maps showing the Trail of Tears, current North Carolina Native American reservations, and distribution of Native Americans prior to European settlement (see websites section)
• A classroom collection of books about Native American topics (see Supplemental section).
• Student journals, paper, crayons, and writing utensils.
• Ingredients for Fry bread (see below).

Technology resources

Computer(s) with Internet access and sound. If possible, also with projection capabilities. If not, an overhead projector will be required.

Pre-activities

Teacher should:

1. Have a working knowledge of literature circles.
2. Arrange to have books for the literature circles in the classroom.
3. Schedule a guest speaker.
4. Gather fry bread ingredients and arrange a kitchen area to cook this recipe with students.
5. Make arrangements for a field trip on the last day of the two–week unit.

Activities

Monday

Introduction of Trail of Tears Unit

1. Anticipatory Set – Have “What Have They Done” and “Cherokee Morning Song” playing as the students enter the room. You may download these songs for free at the Cherokee Nation Mexico website. Watch students reactions to the Native American music.
2. Discuss student’s reactions to the music and their preconceptions about Native Americans. Explain to the class that there are hundreds of different Native American cultures within North America. Most do not live in tepees or say “how.” Tell the students they will be learning about the Cherokee Indians of North Carolina and the Trail of Tears as well as discussing different tribes within North Carolina and North America.
3. Read a brief overview of the Trail of Tears to the children.
4. Show them the Trail of Tears on a map of the United States.
5. Look at a map of North Carolina Native American reservations today and compare it to a map of North Carolina Native Americans prior to European settlement.

Tuesday

Begin Literature Circles

1. Give a book talk to introduce the books the students will be reading in their Literature Circles. Suggested books are listed in the Supplemental section. Allow the students to sign up for the book they want to read. Six students per book group is ideal. Discuss the roles each student will play in the group and the discussions that will take place.
2. Create a chart of who has signed up for each of the books.
3. Have a discussion about the roles and responsibilities of each group member. Have students determine what role they will play and add to the chart. Recommended roles include:
   • Passage Master
   • Word Wizard
   • Connector
   • Summarizer
   • Artist
   • Investigator
4. Set a time schedule for the students and discuss how they should use the time to read the book and participate in grand conversations.
5. Discuss how the group will use their reading logs.
6. Tell the students to think about what project they will prepare when they have completed the literature circle. See Supplemental section for ideas.

Wednesday

Discuss Native American Story Telling

1. Tell students that tales that explain “why” are called pourquoi tales. In French, the word pourquoi (por-kwa) means why. Pourquoi tales are written to explain why things are the way they are and usually describe something in nature.
2. Read Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun by G. Keams.
3. Show students the snake story told by Eagle Woman on the ibiblio website.
4. Have the students write and illustrate their own pourquoi tales about something that occurs in nature.
5. Give students time to work in their Literature Circle Groups.

Thursday

Guest Speaker

1. Guest speaker presents. For example, Gayle Ross, descendant of John Ross, the Principal Chief through the Trail of Tears, could talk with the class about the Trail of Tears and share some Tales of Native North America.
2. Students will complete their pourquoi tales with accompanying pictures which will be displayed outside the classroom.
3. Students are given the choice to read their pourquoi tales or tell their story to the class like the storyteller, sticking to the main story but varying the detail if they wish.
4. Literature Circle Groups will continue meeting.

Friday

Poetry

1. Read the poems “Song of the Grandmothers” by Marilou Awiakta and “Tawodi” by Kenneth “Bear Hawk” Cohen. These poems are free form poems. Discuss the fact that many types of poetry do not use rhyme.
2. Write a collaborative poem about something the students have learned about Native Americans.
3. Have the students write their own poems independently.
4. Literature Circle Groups continue meeting today.

Monday

Computers

1. Have students go to the North Carolina Indian Tribes area of the Access Genealogy website. Read about the Cherokee Indian Tribe and then choose the Chocktow, Creek, or Chickasaw Indian tribe to read about. Work with the students on a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two tribes.
2. Have students read the frequently asked questions, explore information about different Native American tribes, and play online Native American children’s games at NativeTech.
3. Literature Circle Groups should wrap up their reading and discussion and start working on their projects by Tuesday.

Tuesday

Literature Experience

1. Read “The Fox and the Fry Bread” from Pine Arbor Tribal Town Trickster Tales.
2. Have a grand conversation about the connections students have to text, self, and world. Talk about the author’s use of language in this story. What was the author’s purpose? What type of story was this?
3. Make Fry Bread. Doris Eagle’s Fry Bread recipe is available from HGTV.com.
4. Have the students write in their journals about their connections or making fry bread. Or they can write their own fry bread tale.
5. Give students time to work on their Literature Circle Projects.

Wednesday

Letter Writing

1. Review letter writing techniques. Explain that simulated letters are written as if the writer were someone else.
2. Have students write a simulated letter to President Andrew Jackson, explaining why the Cherokee Indians should not have to move to Oklahoma. Conference with them and encourage them to write in persona. One example would be to try to write the way a Cherokee might speak/write, use vocabulary words that a Cherokee would use, and argue his or her point of view persuasively. Allow the students to draft, revise, and edit their letters. After the lesson talk to the students about their simulated letters and ask them to reflect on what they have learned.
3. Give students ample time to work on their Literature Circle Projects.

Thursday

Powwow

1. Explain to students that powwow time is the Native American people’s way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships and make new ones. This is a time to renew thought of the old ways and to preserve a rich heritage. As a class, you have learned about the heritage of the American Indians. But there is still so much more to learn.
2. Make a K-W-L chart and talk about what else you want to learn and what you might learn during Friday’s field trip.
3. Literature circle groups present their projects.

Friday

Field Trip

1. Go on field trip.
2. Upon return from field trip, work together as a class to complete the K-W-L chart and share any other knowledge or comments from the days events.

Assessment

1. Use an assessment checklist for literature circles to make sure students are completing their reading assignments and fulfilling the responsibilities of their roles.
2. Informally assess student progress in literature circles as you participate in their grand conversations. Are the students understanding the text? Are they participating in discussion? Use an informal checklist for all students and make notes on which students are understanding the text, participating in discussions, sharing their insights with the group, getting along with and helping others out in their groups?
3. Review students’ pourquoi tales. Do they explain a “why?” When students share their pourquois with others, are they reading with expression? Did they use many expressive description words? For those who decided to tell their pourquois in the style of a storyteller, did they follow the main plot of the stories they had written? Did they add detail, even if it was not the exact detail they had written in their story? Allow students to choose whether or not they will add this to their portfolios.
4. Read students’ poems. Are they about nature? Are they free form or did students revert back to rhyming poems? Do they understand that poems do not need to rhyme? How do you know? Do not grade these but simply make sure that they understood and completed the assignment. Allow students to choose whether or not they will add this to their portfolios.
5. Informally assess students in the grand conversation. Were students able to make connections to The Fox and the Fry Bread? Did they share their connections during the grand conversation with great detail? Little detail? Did they follow directions when making the Fry Bread?
6. Use a checklist for the letter writing assignment. When writing a letter to Andrew Jackson, did the students follow the appropriate letter format? Did they organize their letter so that each topic had its own paragraph? Did they include details? Did they use persuasive language? Did they make a point and plea to Mr. Jackson?
7. When presenting literature circle projects make sure all students in the group participate in some way or another. If they are uncomfortable talking in front of the class, encourage them to take a small part in the presentation in a way that they will increase their confidence about public speaking.
8. Behavior: Students’ appropriate and inappropriate behavior should be noted separately as they work in their literature circles, listen to the guest speaker, and go on the field trip. Students should be given instruction ahead of time so that they understand exactly what is expected of them in each situation. Since these situations are each, in some way, different from the normal classroom, it is important that students be reminded of classroom rules as well as any new rules that may apply to each of these situations.

Supplemental information

Possible Projects

• Read the Journal of Jesse Smoke by Joseph Bruchac. Create a Biography box about Jesse Smoke. Identify items that represent Jesse. Collect these items and put them in a box you have decorated. Write a 3 x 5 card to go with each object explaining its significance to him.
• Read Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac. Read other books about Native American houses such as Life in a Longhouse, Longhouses of Cherokee, and Native Homes by B. Kalman. Make a poster with pictures and descriptions of the different types of homes Native Americans lived in.
• Read the biography of John Ross, the principle chief of the Cherokee people on the Trail of Tears. Write a timeline of his life.
• Write and mail a letter to the Cherokee Historical Association to get information about the Trail of Tears.
• Write a poem about the hardships the Cherokees encountered on the Trail of Tears.
• Choose one of the books about American Indians from the classroom library that isn’t being read in a literature circle. Give an oral report to the class on the book.
• Interview a Cherokee about what life is like living on the Cherokee reservation today. Have them tell you stories of life on the reservation when they were growing up as well.

Bibliographic References

Bealer, Alex W. Only the Names Remain: The Cherokees and the Trail of Tears. Little, Brown reprint 1996.

Bradley-Holmes, R. Beginning Cherokee. The University of Oklahoma Press, OK 1989.

Bruchac, J. Children of the Longhouse. Dial Books, NY 1996.

Bruchac, J. Journal of Jesse Smoke. Scholastic, N.Y. 2001.

Bruchac, J. The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story. Puffin Books, 1998.

Bushyhead, R. Yonder Mountain: A Cherokee Legend. Lobster Cove Publishing, 1999.

Carlson, L. More than Moccasins – A Kid’s Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life. Chicago Review Press, 1994.

Driving Hawk Sneve, V. The Cherokees (A First American Book). Holiday House, 1996.

Ellis, Jerry. Walking the Trail: One Man’s Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears. University of Nebraska Press, 2001.

Kalman, B. Life in a Longhouse Village (Native Nations of North America). Crabtree Publishing Co., 2001.

Kalman, B. Longhouses of Cherokee. Crabtree Publishing Co., 2001.

Kalman, B. Native Homes (Native Nations of North America). Crabtree Publishing Co., 2001.

Keams, G. Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun. Rising Moon Publications, 1995.

McClure, Tony Mack. Cherokee Proud. Chu-Nan-Nee Books, 2nd Edition 1998.

Pennington, D. Itse Selu Cherokee Harvest Festival. Charlesbridge Publishing, 1994.

Reed, M. Seven Clans of the Cherokee Society. Cherokee Publications, 1993.

Roop, P. If You Lived with the Cherokees. Scholastic Paperbacks, 1998.

Modifications

Possible substitute activities can include:

• Role play the Trail of Tears utilizing the Trail of Tears Artreach Touring Theatre materials.
• Divide students into groups to write and perform a play about living in a longhouse.

Critical vocabulary

Content Area Word Wall:

• Algonquian
• La Crosse
• Nation
• Spirit
• Archaic Period
• Legend
• Occaneechi
• Tomahawk
• Arrowheads
• Longhouse
• Paleo Period
• Trail of Tears
• Canoe
• Hulling
• Matrilineal
• Pottery
• Weaving
• Cherokee
• Medicine Man
• Sacred
• Council
• Mississipian Period
• Sequoyah